WordofSouth.com: How’s everything going?

Jacki-O: Getting my album together and dealing with a lot of haters and trying to move forward. That’s about it.

WordofSouth.com: I see that you have a deal setup through EMI to release your music now.

Jacki-O: Ain’t that great? *laughs*

WordofSouth.com: Yeah.

Jacki-O: Yeah, I do through Gracie Productions. I’m able to push not only Jacki-O, but Jack Move Entertainment and the artists that I have on my label. They’ll be able to get their albums out. It’s just  a big step, but I’m about to make it happen because it’s been a long time coming and I’ve put in a lot of hard work and paid a lot of dues, so I’m happy.

WordofSouth.com:  Yeah that’s good news. You’ve been through a lot.

Jacki-O: Yeah, definitely, I’ve been through a lot.

WordofSouth.com:  How did this deal go down?

Jacki-O: Dorian Washington at an entertainment company and I was actually getting ready to do another mixtape when I met him and he was like “nah, you need to do an album and get it out to the masses.” He let me know that he would be able to put my album out and set it up where I’d be able to have Jack Move Entertainment as well. That’s what I ran with and I wanted that anyway. I was so interested in running my own label and doing things so to speak, my way. Opposed to being on a major and having them put out what they want to put out on me. It’s a big difference when you’re doing things independent. You are able to own your own music and able to pick and choose what it is that you want to put out. You have more freedom, so I’m happy about that situation.

WordofSouth.com: So now that you are at work on your new album, what would you say is the main difference with working on this one and your first one with TVT?

Jacki-O: With being independent at the end of the day I am able to keep my own music and I don’t have to leave it with somebody and its there’s now. A lot of artists don’t know that when you sign to these majors that you ain’t only signing, but they take your music. Its crazy that you do all this hard work and you can’t keep it. In my case, filing bankruptcy allowed me to get out of those contracts on TVT. They had the rights to my music and they kept it. In this situation I am able to keep my music and that is the most important thing to an artist. To able to keep the rights to your music and have a legacy when you leave to leave behind to your kids. That’s why I keep stressing that about the rights to your music because that’s a big difference. You have the freedom of doing what I wanna do, which is put whatever songs I wanna put out and shoot videos to what I wanna shoot.

WordofSouth.com: You mentioned how important it is to have the rights to your music. Can you go into more detail about this for people that may not know?

Jacki-O: A lot of labels when you sign with them have these 360 deals. They want a piece of your publishing. They want to keep all of your digitals. They want to keep the rights to your music and they want a piece of your show money back. There’s no way an artist can survive with a kind of deal like that. A lot of these artists big or small, you may not believe it, but a lot of these artists, well known artists that have sold a lot of records are signed to 360 deals. They may look like they’re doing well, but their contracts are messed up, and they’re not being very business minded when it comes to being an artist. I think what allowed me to learn is just the time off that I had when I left Poe Boy and TVT. I had a lot of time to think about my next move and that was to be business minded and learning what I need to learn, opposed to just putting on the makeup, getting on stage, and just rapping. It’s more to it than that. I believe that its 85% business and 15% talent. To some people they may think it’s the other way around, but in the long run, when it’s all over, and you have nothing to show for that long run you just did, it’s crazy. You need to have something to show for it. Niggas just can’t be out here just rappin’ and making anybody money but yourself. You got to make money yourself and have something to show for it. That’s probably one of the pieces of best advice that I can give an artist.

WordofSouth.com: Like you said, you’ve been through a lot and being a female in this industry is definitely harder id say. Any advice that you can offer to female artists on the come up?

Jacki-O: Keep your eyes open and your legs closed. That’s probably the best advice I can probably say. Everything that sounds good ain’t always good. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is. Just work hard and pay attention to everything that’s going on. Now I have my own studio and record everything myself. Before I didn’t. I would go in and would just watch the engineer, watch how they would setup Pro Tools, and just watch. If I hadn’t watched or learned I probably wouldn’t have been able to put out two mixtapes out myself and not been able to record myself. I thank God that I did watch because it’s hard to try to get in a studio and work with people especially when they have they own artists. I bought all of the equipment, the Pro Tools, mic, and all of that stuff, and setup in my house. I recorded everything there. That’s why I said pay attention and learn as much as you can. A lot of men don’t like to show females how to do anything, especially get money.

WordofSouth.com:  So tell me about your new track that is out called “Baby Mama.”

Jacki-O: I just wanted to do something that was different and funny. I’m just having fun. I don’t know, I like the record a lot. A lot of people like the record and I’ve been hearing a lot of great reviews from it. I guess a lot of people are getting the wrong concept about the record. When I say I wanna be his baby mama, I mean I want to be his wife, have kids, and be his family. In the song I actually say that. That’s the whole logic behind the record. Growing up I always dreamt of the day that I would marry, have a husband, have a wedding, have a baby, and have a family. So, I kind of incorporated all of that into the record. Me being his baby mama doesn’t just mean I want to be his baby mama. I want to be his girl, wife, and the mother of his kids.

WordofSouth.com: When you recorded it, did you think people would take it the wrong way?

Jacki-O: Of course! People take all of my music the wrong way. They do that first, but sooner or later, they’ll be singing along. People take a lot of people’s records the wrong way until they have a chance to sit down and listen to the lyrics of the record, so it’s all good.

WordofSouth.com: Is this going to be the lead single for the new album?

Jacki-O: Naw, it’s the lead single for the album, however were just testing the waters and see what happens. Like I said, I have an independent situation, so I can release whatever I want to release. Right now it’s about making moves.

WordofSouth.com: Now you mentioned that you have your label, so do you have a team in place right now to help it grow?

Jacki-O: Yes I do, you know with the label you got to have people in place that’s gonna help take your career to the next level. Being a female you got to have a glam squad, a stylist, and makeup artist. Being a CEO of a company sounds good, but it ain’t what people may think it is. You have responsibilities and people that really depend on you to take it to the next level. They on board and running with you, so you can’t let them down.

WordofSouth.com: You came out with a book under C-Murder’s “TRU Publishing. What was it all about?

Jacki-O: Actually that book is old. The book came out over a year ago, but it’s called “Grown & Gangsta” and it’s about a group of friends that relationships have stood the test of time. They just go through so much and grow from kids to adults. One of them is a record exec, another is a gold digger, one is a hustler, another dude works on Wall Street, and another is restaurant owner. It talks about real things and is a very good read. I have another book that I am working on about me, being in the industry, being a female in Hip-Hop, about friends and family. That book is a real life book and Summertime I will release that book.

WordofSouth.com: Could you compare writing a book and writing songs to each other?

Jacki-O: It’s the same; however its different because the wording is different, but the process of just keeping it real when you are writing a book based on reality is just to write it from the heart. When you send it to editing, hopefully they put in what needs to be put in when it comes to grammar. When you are actually writing the book, the rough draft is from the heart. It’s both the same for me because I write about real stuff.

WordofSouth.com: What other business opportunities are you getting into in the near future?

Jacki-O: Other ventures is just getting this label off and running first of all. That’s my first and foremost goal for 2009, to launch this label. Then the book thing. I’ve had movie opportunities too, but I don’t know, just working.

WordofSouth.com: Do you have artists signed to your label at this time?

Jacki-O: Yeah I do, I have two artists that are setup and are working on their albums. Their albums will be released in 2009 also.